Assessing Müllerian mimicry in North American bumble bees using human perception.

Despite the broad recognition of mimicry among bumble bees, distinct North American mimicry rings have yet to be defined, due in part to the prevalence of intermediate and imperfect mimics in this region. Here we employ a generalization approach using human perception to categorize mimicry rings among North American bumble bees. We then map species distributions on North American ecoregions to visually test for geographic concordance among similarly-colored species.

Decades of native bee biodiversity surveys at Pinnacles National Park highlight the importance of monitoring natural areas over time.

Thousands of species of bees are in global decline, yet research addressing the ecology and status of these wild pollinators lags far behind work being done to address similar impacts on the managed honey bee. This knowledge gap is especially glaring in natural areas, despite knowledge that protected habitats harbor and export diverse bee communities into nearby croplands where their pollination services have been valued at over $3 billion per year. Surrounded by ranches and farmlands, Pinnacles National Park in the Inner South Coast Range of California contains intact Mediterranean chaparral shrubland.

Reducing protected lands in a hotspot of bee biodiversity: bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a federally protected area found in central southern Utah. Designated in 1996 by President William J. Clinton, it was recently reduced in size by President Donald J.

Wild bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: richness, abundance, and spatio-temporal beta-diversity.

Interest in bees has grown dramatically in recent years in light of several studies that have reported widespread declines in bees and other pollinators. Investigating declines in wild bees can be difficult, however, due to the lack of faunal surveys that provide baseline data of bee richness and diversity. Protected lands such as national monuments and national parks can provide unique opportunities to learn about and monitor bee populations dynamics in a natural setting because the opportunity for large-scale changes to the landscape are reduced compared to unprotected lands.